Greg Miller: Wait before you upgrade your company's computers

You've been hearing a lot about Windows 8 for the past few months. And you are probably wondering whether you should consider upgrading your business computers to Windows 8.

Greg Miller

You've been hearing a lot about Windows 8 for the past few months. And you are probably wondering whether you should consider upgrading your business computers to Windows 8.

Let me start with the finish: For almost all businesses, the answer is "no." Or at least, "not yet."

Now, for the positives about Windows 8. If you have, or plan to have, a Windows phone and/or a Windows tablet, then all the devices will share a common operating system. This will be very user-friendly for people who get chills at the thought of having to learn a whole new interface for their phone or tablet. And data sharing between all of your devices will be very simple.

But the general wisdom when it comes to new operating systems is to wait until one year after launch, or until the first service pack. The reason for this is that new software typically comes with many bugs. It takes time to find and remedy those bugs — during which time you must find your own way to cope with them. This can be a major drain on office productivity.

At the same time, tech support people need time to be trained on how to support the software. The knowledge bases that we rely heavily on to fix cranky computers just don't exist during the early days of new software. And probably most importantly, many software packages that you use today will not run on Windows 8 yet. For example, if you use QuickBooks, you will need to upgrade to QuickBooks 2013.

Beyond that, there are other good reasons to wait. The Windows 8 interface is a total redesign of the user interface. Gone is the "Start Button" that you currently use to navigate to software or to shut down. In its place is a "Start Screen" that is made up of a mosaic of tiles. If the switch to Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 was a frustrating experience for you, then buckle your seat belt when you switch to Windows 8.

The Windows 8 experience will also require a Microsoft account to reap the advantages of file sharing between devices. Yes, Microsoft will be keeping its eyes on your activities, just like Google does.

If you are adventurous and decide to take the plunge, first run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant to be sure your computer is capable of running Windows 8. If your computer is more than 2 years old, the answer is most likely "no."

Greg Miller of CMIT Solutions of Goshen specializes in supporting computers, servers, and networks for small- and medium-size businesses. He can be reached at 291-8833, gmiller@cmitsolutions.com, or www.cmitsolutions.com/GoshenNY.